On the 23rd of April, the celebrations of two languages are happening: it is, indeed, the international day of the English and Spanish languages. The occurrence is a reminder of the history of the two vernaculars and an encouragement to multilingualism. Broken Chalk wishes to use the day to reflect on bilingual education.

 

Bilingual contexts are becoming the standard instead of remaining a rarity. Education should encompass the ongoing changes influencing what people see as the norm. According to UNESCO, multilingual schooling is essential to achieve inclusivity in education, especially in countries where the dominant -colonial- language exists in relation to local vernaculars. Multilingual education aids both students with a refugee background and students who speak minority languages at home. Bilingual strategies in schooling increase student involvement in the classroom, raise retention rates, and push community and family participationi.

 

Adopting multilingual education policies helps address the worldwide learning crisis. Moreover, on an individual-intellectual level, bilingual students develop higher cognitive skills and hold a higher degree of literacy than their monolingual peersii.

Multilingual education opens the path to preserve indigenous languages and protect linguistic diversityiii.

 

Broken Chalk wishes to reiterate the benefits of multilingual strategies in education. Preserving local languages aids social cohesion, improves community engagement, and protects the culture around it. Developing bilingual approaches helps pupils in their future endeveours, professional and individual.

 

Featured image from Flickr by Elliot Brown